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Opinions of Friday, 28 November 2014

Columnist: Sarpong, Justice

Cocaine Saga,Ibrahim Mahama, ....

.... Pepenii #1 Nayeli Ametefe, Angel #1,

That is the personal license plate numbers of the Porsche Cayenne cars belonging to Ibrahim Mahama, the President's brother and cocaine Baroness, Nayeli Ametefe, aka Angel Mahama aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi

The Nayeli Ametefe cocaine case is more damaging to the reputation of Ghana than Amoateng's case. Folks, I am not saying this because I am an Npp supporter. Whilst I will not defend Amoateng on any forum and his case dented the reputation of Ghana, any individual who wants to do indepth analysis will realize that, whilst Amoateng's deed was done without any assistance from the government and might have travelled through the VIP lounge because he was a member of Parliament.

In the case of Nayeli Ametefe according to her boarding record, she travelled on an Austrian passport not as an Austrian official so how can an ordinary Ghanaian get access to the VVIP lounge, not just VIP lounge but a boarding facility reserved for the President and a few very important Ghanaians? Members of Parliament are not even aloud to travel through VVIP lounge so how did this cocaine Baroness manage to get access to the VVIP lounge if not through the help of higher ups in this Mahama administration or Ndc Party?

I knew from day one that there is no way The President of Ghana whether it be in the hands of Npp or Ndc will get himself personally involved in the cocaine business no matter how corrupt that person may be. With a lot of more money to be made by adding ten percent(10%) to every contract and loans signed, no President with his head screwed on right will engage in the dangerous drug business and I do agree with Kennedy Agyapong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, when he said "President Mahama does not have any relation with the woman, and so called on Ghanaians not to rope the President's name in the cocaine issue."

The story is different though when it comes to his brother Ibrahim, who have carved a name for himself as a playboy with bad business deals. The question then is who is the businessman with such a clout who can sit at the comfort of his home and dial the Airport to make the VVIP, not VIP lounge available to this cocaine Baroness? Nayeli Ametefe's move through the VVIP lounge at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) could not have been successful without assistance from Ibrahim Mahama, the President's brother. What is so strange is that, both Ibrahim Mahama and Nayeli Ametefe both have Porsche Cayenne four wheel drive vehicles with personalized licence plates. PEPENII #1 is the licence plate for Ibrahim Mahama and Nayeli Ametefe, who calls herself Mrs Angel Mahama has a personal licence place for her Porsche Cayenne as 'ANGEL #1', ASEM BEBA DABI.

The record of Ndc in drug matters is very sordid and they have used propaganda to cover their history. Ghanaians should realize that, long before Npp came to power in 2001, Ghana was tagged as the number one drug country in Africa during President Rawlings administration. Our drug problem in the country and the bad image we have internationally as a drug hub should be blamed on NDC because we achieved the position of a number one drug trafficking country during the NDC administration. This is what one Professor Patrick Addy, a deputy Sports and Youth Minister said in 1999.

General News of Tuesday, 30 November 1999 Source: Ghanaian Chronicle "Ghana rated No.1 in Drug Trafficking" - Prof Addy

Accra - Ghana has become number one among African countries in narcotic drugs trafficking. This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Professor Patrick Addy, at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop on "eradicating streetism in the next millennium"

When President Mills told the nation he suspects some of his aides to be in the drug business, was he speaking because of some information he had at the time without going into details? Patrick Jojo Mercer Former Commercial Attaché, Ghana High Commission, Australia about a week ago revealed in the forum that,'in August 2010 British Customs officers and Police intercepted a parcel of yams at the Kent International Airport in London,United Kingdom upon close examination, the tubers of yam was found to be containing cocaine at a street value of 200,000 pounds, the bag incidentally had a diplomatic tache to it with Ghana's coat of arms.'

Folks, our national emblem is now being used as a stamp to transport illegal drugs from Ghana to Europe and USA by this administration. Did we hear anything from the usual big mouths in this administration denying this information? Where was Ablakwah, Baba Jamal and now Omane Boamah, who have made himself the Dean of cocaine case defense when we needed them to quash this information? When you expect President Mills to condemn this canker destroying the image of our country in his usual spiritual high dudgeon, he went stone silent.

Who has the privilege to put the emblem of our country as a stamp to smuggle drugs out of our country? In the case above that happened in August 2010, the individual who was arrested, is alleged to be a close confidante of one Mr Nii Lantei Vanderpuiye, special Assistant to the President of Ghana, President Mills. How did the friend of a Presidential Aide manage to smuggle drugs through the Diplomatic bags if this administration is not in cahoot with drug smugglers? Where did President Mills get his deputy Ministers andPresidential Aides with dubious characters

If this was just the only case, we would have 'chalked' it off as an anomally but this is a norm in this administration and this President has closed his eyes and covered his ears to it. Another arrest occurred at Manila Airport in Philippines where somebody close to this administration name was mentioned.Professor John Evans Atta Mills had second thoughts and misgivings about the modus operandi of some of his aides. The individual involved name has been mentioned and passed on to the Ghanaian security agencies. Such is the scandalous nature of this case the President has been pressured to take action.

"This is not the first time that cases of this nature have gone unnoticed by the security agencies. There are rumours that some senior members of the ruling National Democratic congress have taken over where the New Patriotic Party, heavily criticised for not doing much to stop the drug trade left off." It is alleged that,'In order not to get detected, they have moved operations to Guinea Bissau, a country declared a narcotic state by the United Nations.

Intelligence sources have confirmed that these members have set up a processing factory outside the capital, Bissau and are trafficking the product to Europe with the support of South American drug barons based there. It is to their luck and a blessing that one of their contacts is a minister at the Ghanaian health ministry and a person with known connections to South American drug cartels. Yet no action has been taken against this person! Who is this person? Rojo Nunoo who is a deputy at the Health ministry was previously accused of being the middleman for the Venezuela drug dealers in Ghana when he used his second hand women underwear importation business as a front to launder money and traffic drugs for drug dealers. How can such a man be appointed to such a position if his services as a drug courier is not needed by this administration to facilitate its drug dealings? NDC is playing psychological games with Ghanaians when it comes to drug trafficking. This party has been financing its activities through drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

In 1996 when Frank Benneh was arrested in Switzerland, he was alleged to have told the authorities there that, he was dealing drugs for the NDC administration at that time led by Rawlings. The NDC administration at that time whisked Benne from Switzerland to Ghana and instead of putting him in jail rather housed him at Liberty Court Hotel at the tax payers expense, and was later to be moved into state lodgings instead of being sent to jail. The proceeds from Benneh's drug deals was used to buy arms for the NDC controlled militia. Some of the arms purchased from the drug sales were on display by the militia during the military parade to mark the the third anniversary of the Fourth Republic.

Folks, these are facts and not myths. NDC in order to cover its own drug dealings used Amoateng's case to hide its own record but a thief cannot change his character just by pointing an accusing finger at another thief.

This Nayeli Ametefe's case may finally help Ghana to tackle the drug menace now that Ghanaians have realized that, the drug problem is neither Npp or Ndc problem but a national disgrace that have tarnished the reputation of Ghana. It's really scary that somebody who is not travelling on a plane can carry a bag weighing 12.5 kilos of cocaine into a plane without being questioned by anybody including the Airline officials. What if it was not cocaine but a bomb? Very scary to travel from Kotoka International Airport if the Airport is that loose with security to the travelling public.

Justice Sarpong

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)